Spbistg holding-clip fob railway signal-torpedoes



I UTCHER. SPRING HOLDING RAILWAY SIGNAL LoIIPEnoEs. APPLICA F|LED DEC. I5. 9l6 1,303,640.

Patented May' 13, i919.

FRANK TUTUHERi, GF VERSAILEES, EEINTNSYIJVANIAAFnSlEGNOH. T0 CENTRAL 'RAILWAY SIGNAL COMPANY, GF PITTSBURGH, FENNSYLVMSIA, A, GURPQRATN 0F NEW JERSEY.

i ,3&31, (istil.

Specification of Letters Fatent.

lea-tenten hay nia, icio.I

.application filed lleceinber 15', 1916. Serial No. 132133.

Be it known that li, .FRANK Dirroninn9 a citizen ot the United States, residing at Ver sa illes, in the county of Allegheny and State ot' Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Spring Holding-Clips for Railway Signal-Torpedoesa ci which the following is a specification, reference *being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to improvements in spring holding clips for railway signal tor pedoes, which are to be suitably attached 'to the torpedo case and capable oit' embracing and grasping the head ot' a rail for the Vpurpose of holding` the torpedo thereon to be run over by the Wheel oit the engine and eX- ploded as a signal to the engineer.

Spring holding clips for railway signal torpedoes have been used on commercial torpedoes for a great many years and they have been constructed from a ribbon. or strip of spring metal. All spring holding clips for torpedoes that have been commercially used fort'ully ten years prior toiny present invention, have been made substantially oval in shape, as illustrated in my Patent Ninns ber 802.919, October 24th, 1905. @Wing to the oval shape ot' this prior spring clip,

when applied to the head of the rail, it projects beyond the edges of the head of the rail, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, of this part ent. Although the commercial. art has recognized this spring clip as the most ed'eotive means known for holding the torpedo on the track under the most severe conditions, it has also been recognized that even it at times is knocked off olf' the rail Without be- ,lng @Xplodedby the Wheel oi' the locolnotive,l

given to the the cross-sectional size ou the tread et tba is referred 'to as only being somewhat illuss trative et the defects of the spring clip here toiore used, ln this old type olf spring clip when applied to the various sizes ot rails, it jsliable to tit lop-sided. exaggerating the side extensions and exaggerating its defects from that shown in the said patent, and' with the small tread nails the inner ends of the spring will. engage the vertical weh and force out its sides more than that shown in my said patent.

rllhe object ot my present invention is to make a spring clip or' .such shape that it adapts itsel't' to the contour of the heads of the various size rails and tits them` all so snugly that there is no projecting part for the flange oi 'the car Wheels to strike, and is provided with hooks to catch under the lower side of the tread of the rail and absolutely prevents it and the torpedo attached thereto from `being knocked from the rail. liurtherniore,l the improved shape will cause the top oi? the clip to rest on the face ot the rail, and, therefor-in hold the torpedo down on the rail even though the side por tions or legs of the clip are so long that the hooked portions project below the under side of the small tread rails.

lgn the accompanying drawingslfigure l is a perspective view of my iinprov'ed clip showing it applied to the head oi a small rail and carrying a torpedo.

Fig. a View oi the clip alone on the head ol" the rail, showing how it automatically mores from the abnormal position ysloovmn in dotted lines to 'its correct position in tull linesn l liig, 3 is an edge View of the full sized clip showing it applied to the head of a large rail.

Fig. fle is a liull eine edge View of the clip, shown in i), and 3, and before it is en pauded For application to the head oit the rail..

'lilly improved spring clip fr is made from a strip or ribbon ot' spring metah preferably steel. and the torpedov D, ot any torna is at taehed io the center or top portion l, in any suitable n'ninner. The ends 2 o'F the top portion aro uoromlly curved slightly downward 'and outward and bent downi'ard and'inyivard at the points 3. which connect the top and tho side arms si. Ilhese downwardly and inwardly extending side arms d are subextending hooked portions 5.- By reference to Fig. 4, it will be seen that the spring in its normal position is approximately heartshaped in outline.

This improved shaped spring will snugly fit vyarious sizes of rails so that there is no side projecting portion to be struck by the Harige of the wheel, and in practical service this improved spring has been found to be absolutely reliable under ,the severest conditions found in snow and ice, on the western mountain roads.

By reason of the normal inwardl eX- tending portions 4, when the spring is applied to a small tread rail, the arms serve to pull the spring down to the position shown in Fig. 2, by reason of the engagement of the lower ends of the yarms with the lower corners 6 of the rail tread 7 This is dleto the fact that the arms of the spring have a strong inward tension and bein normally inclined engage the portions 6 o the rail and have somewhat a cam action,

.which forces' the spring to .the position shown in full lines Fig. 2. lt is found in practice that if the spring is moved up to the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. Q, it will force itself down t9 the proper position,

shown in solid lines Fig. 2. The function of the slightly downwardly curved portion-2 of the top is to cause the top to assume a horizontal position across the face of the rail tread when the arms fl are spread outward around the head'of the rail. This prevents the ends of the top extending upward above the tread of the rail, which would happen if these curved portions were not provided. By reason of this specific construction, the spring clip snugly iits the various sizes of rails and automatically assumes its snug fit.

The hooks 5, as shown, project under the head of the rail and absolutely prevent the spring from being pulled awa from the rail until the arms have been su iciently drawn outward to enable the hooks to clear the rail From the foregoing description and disclosure it is apparent that the primary object of my present invention is to'provide a torpedo with a spring clip so shaped that The top llis here shownwith the Ul' wheel. Bearing these oojects in mind, it will be understood', of course, that the exact shape here shown may be slivhtly varied, so long as it accomplishes the oregoing objects without departing from the invention here disclosed and sought to be protected by the appended claims.

From the foregoing description and 'the accompanying illustration, it will be ohserved, that when 'the clip is in its normal contracted form it is smallerthan, and o a contour dii'erent from the cross-sectional jcontour of the tread of the rail to which it is to be applied, but when expanded it con- `forms to the \crosssectional contour of the rail-tread, and closely fits its top and sides so there are no projecting portions to beengaged hy` the fiange of a car wheel to push it ofi' of the rail-tread.

Having thus described' my invention, what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a railway signal torpedo, oit' a spring clip having a top ortion to be attached to the torpedo an its sides curved downward and inward in opj posite directions toward each other and nor- ",mally contracted to a contour smaller and different from the cross-sectional contour of a rail-tread, whereby when it is expanded for' application to a rail-tread it will closely fit the top and sides of diierent sizedrail treads for the pu ose described. y

, 2. The combination with a railway signal torpedo, of a spring clip attached to the under side thereof and having approxi- `mately a heart-shape when in its normal contracted form, whereby when it is expanded it closely fits the topand-sides of a rail-tread andits extremities extend thereunder, for the purpose described.

3. The 'combination with a railway signal torpedo, of a spring clip having when in its contracted normal form a central portion attached to the under side of the torpedo FRANK DUTCHER.

Witnesses:

ANNA Bnvs'iv, R. W. Joanna.

lOt 

